New poll shows that majority of Americans think government should do more to solve hunger

Yesterday, The Hill ran an op-ed by Jim Weill from the Food Research and Action Center and Sara Lilygren, executive vice president of Corporate Affairs at Tyson Foods, titled “Hunger: An issue we can agree on,” which underscores how the majority of Americans polled are looking to government to be part of the solution.

They said, in part:

"Hunger continues to be far too widespread in our nation. Americans recognize that families are running out of food at the end of the month and that children are eating less nutritious and cheaper food so their parents can scrape together money to pay the rent. They realize that seniors are often choosing whether to pay for prescriptions or food. They know that many children go hungry in the summer when school is out. Indeed, 45 percent of Americans say that hunger in the U.S. is a 'serious problem.'

"These are sobering thoughts, but people believe there is a solution and they are looking for the government, in addition to individuals and local communities, to lead. Overwhelmingly, people believe that government should tackle this problem. More than 80 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Independents believe the federal and local government has responsibility, and 50 percent of Republicans believe that the federal government has responsibility."

Read the full article here and see the full poll results here.